What we know about level 1
New Zealanders will have an answer about a move to alert level 1 by late June — that’s what we know.
But what we don’t know yet is the exact date of the move and the surrounding conditions, as this is still to be decided by Cabinet.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave a brief outline on Monday of what to expect when the country drops down another level.
The country will remain at alert level 2 for another four weeks. Cabinet will review the level’s settings on Monday, June 8. It will make a decision on whether to move to level 1 no later than June 22.
On Monday, Ardern said that it was the Government’s view the country should move as quickly and as safely as possible to level 1, without losing any gains. If we continued to see a low number or no cases, then we would be in a position to look to move from that point, she said.
Yesterday, director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told The AM Show that the move to alert level 1 would be looked at in four weeks’ time — which was two periods of the virus’ 14-day incubation period.
He also told TVNZ’s Breakfast that they were easing the lockdown carefully so the country wouldn’t go backwards. ‘‘We’ve got to remember,
New Zealand has done phenomenally well. If we were the UK today, we would have had 3500 deaths, we would have had 250 new cases just yesterday and we would still be in lockdown. So this is not a trivial thing that we have avoided and so I think if we remember that and put this into perspective, it’s really clear that we have done the right things.’’
Bloomfield said that some people had been asking how quickly we could move to level 1, and whether we should be aiming to get there sooner.
He said it was important to remember that New Zealand was already moving to relax restrictions more quickly than other countries.
Bloomfield said they were acutely aware that level 2 restrictions did still impact some businesses and people’s lives, and they wanted to be careful to get the balance right. He said they were working hard on the detail of what alert level 1 would look like so that New Zealand could move there as soon as it was safe to do so.
Speaking on Breakfast, Bloomfield said at alert level 2, just about everything was possible — it was just those larger gatherings and international travel which were still to come.
Gatherings
From midday this Friday, up to 100 people will be able to attend weddings, funerals and church services.
The move would allow community sport to take place more easily but large-scale events like concerts would still have restrictions, Ardern said.
At this stage, seating and social distancing requirements still needed to be in place hospitality venues, so no dancing would be permitted at bars and nightclubs.
Trans-Tasman bubble
Speaking to Newstalk ZB yesterday, Bloomfield said he thought the risk in Australia ‘‘was low’’ and ‘‘there’s work happening apace to see how we could potentially open that border up and enable travel between the two countries.’’
Previously, Bloomfield has said that protecting the border was a critical part of the Government’s strategy to eliminate Covid-19, especially as domestic cases were at such low levels. ‘‘We’ve got to remember that there is still a pandemic raging outside New Zealand’s borders and it’s very important we maintain the integrity of our borders.’’